ChinmayC Blog

The Department of Posts has recently announced changes in its Inland Speed Post services and tariff, adding new features to move ahead with the changing times. The revised tariff will be effective from 1st October 2025. The tariff of Inland Speed Post was last revised in October 2012. Under the rationally revised tariff structure the new rates are not substantially but only marginally higher, taking into account the host of safe, fast and smarter new features added. Additionally, to enhance accessibility of Speed Post services for students, a 10% discount on Speed Post tariff has been introduced.  Besides, a special discount of 5% discount has been introduced for new bulk customers.  In order to further strengthen its position as the preferred delivery service in the country, it has now been upgraded with the following new features aimed at enhancing reliability, security, and customer convenience: ● OTP-based secure delivery ● Online payment facility ● SMS-based deliv...

It’d be wrong if I say I’ll never be able to forget about that particular near-dawn while nestled inside a crammed flat in a congested locality of Kolkata, which was once, in my opinion, given the euphoric title of ‘City of Joy’. Instead, I should say I’ll always remember that particular near-dawn which is essentially to keep myself somewhat prepared for more similar or worse experiences in the near future. Yes, it’s about the IMD-described ‘one of the longest and deadliest summers in India’ of which Kolkata is a very significant part. Now to what happened in that near-dawn which is, in fact, is only a day before .   I woke up suddenly in the dead of the night and immediately felt the oppressiveness which was apparently the cause of waking up. The ceiling fan was whirring above us, my wife and I; but its gusts of air were no longer airy—it only seemed to have lost itself into the relentless clutch of that oppressiveness. I was sweating profusely and the heat rashes all over my bo...

Under the aegis of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (75 Years Celebrations of Independence), a Campaign “ Har Ghar Tiranga ” (Tricolor in Every home) on Independence Day 2022 has been launched by the Government of India to encourage the Citizens to hoist the National Flag of India in their homes to instill a feeling of patriotism in the hearts of people and reminisce the contribution of those who had tirelessly worked for nation building. It is envisaged that all citizens are to be encouraged to hoist the Tiranga in their homes during the period from the 13th - the 15th August 2022. Department of Posts is honored to utilize its vast physical reach and manpower present in each and every corner of the country to inform the citizens about the importance of this momentous occasion through comprehensive outreach campaign.  Under this campaign, National Flags have been made available for sale at Post office counters @Rs.25/- per flag all over India. Online orders can also be placed to get yo...

The Indian summer begins from around the end of March and temperatures start soaring reaching the peak in the month of May in the range of 40 to 47/48 degree Celsius in most parts of North, North-Western and Central regions. This year, 2022, however, the heat began from the second part of March and temperatures soared to much above normal by mid-April reaching the forties. Immediately thereafter, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had declared heat wave conditions and then orange alert in various parts of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. Normally, heat wave conditions are declared when temperatures cross the 40 ℃ mark and orange alert as the 45 ℃ is crossed. The capital city Delhi has been in heat wave conditions for the last fortnight and on Friday, the 29 th of April, the mercury has crossed 46.4 ℃ making this month the hottest ever April in the capital in 72 years. As per the IMD data this April could very well be the ...

Hanuman Chalisa is a collection of forty verses (chalis in Hindi means the number 40) except for two Doha or couplets in the beginning and one Doha at the end, in praise of Lord Hanuman who apart from being the exemplary devotee or Bhakta of Lord Ram is also regarded as an incarnation of Shiva and so, is recognized as a God. The scripture of Hanuman Chalisa is authored by Tulsidas (1497/1532—1623), the famous Bhakti poet-saint of the 16 th century India, renowned for composing the Ramcharitmanas (Lake of the deeds of Rama), retelling of the epic Ramayana. Ramcharitmanas is a monumental poetic creation because of the fact that Tulsidas composed it in the Awadhi or Oudhi language that is taken as a dialect of Hindi and thus taking the epic to the huge arena of the common Indians; Sanskrit scriptures are understood mostly by the scholars of that language. Hanuman Chalisa is also composed in Awadhi.   As we mentioned Hanuman Chalisa is a collection of forty chaupais (four-li...

In a very significant development on Thursday, April 7, 2022, the 193-member United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has suspended the membership of Russia from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), a UN body formed in 2006 to replace the erstwhile United Nations Human Rights Commission, with 47 elected members and a mission to promote and protect human rights around the world. In an urgently called session of the UNGA 93 nations voted for the suspension of Russia, 24 including China voted against the move and 58 nations including India abstained whose votes did not count in the final tally, and therefore, the UNGA got its two-thirds majority to pass the move. Although the move is not legally binding Russia would be effectively prevented from raising its voice in the UNHRC.  Thus, Russia becomes the first permanent member-nation of the UN Security Council to be ousted from a UN body. The other Security Council members are the US, the UK, France and China.   The UNG...

Use of abusive words or slang has been universal in daily conversations of human beings across the globe, since times immemorial perhaps. However, in this piece we’re only interested as to how such cuss words have progressed to more hardened and stronger forms on the celluloid and how they have conquered other very conservative celluloid forms. This is not at all a research paper either; but, interestingly, there is lot of research on the progressively hardening swear words in Hollywood movies—researchers even listing out movies with the maximum number of swear-words used in the dialogues by the characters, one finding a maximum of a near thousand such expressions in a movie of around 90 minutes’ duration. In early times societies in the west too were more conservative, and therefore the swear-words were of the relatively innocent types like ‘heck’, ‘what the hell’, ‘damn’ ‘shit’ and so on. The shift toward the hardened cuss words involving the ‘f***’ or ‘f******’ or ‘as****e’ varieti...

In a huge relief for the whole of India, the Government and the farming community the year-long Farmers’ Movement has come to an end today after the Joint Farmers Front leaders announced in Delhi that the Government had accepted all their demands that prominently included the promulgation of a law guarantying Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for their crops and the withdrawal of all charges against the agitating farmers. The leaders described this as a historic victory against an arrogant government further saying that their peaceful movement was unprecedented in India as well as in the world. The farmers would start leaving the Delhi borders from the 11 th of this month, after the state funeral tomorrow of the CDS Gen. Bipin Rawat who died in a tragic chopper crash yesterday, with a victory march to their respective home states, they added. The leaders also said that the Joint Farmers Front which was formed with the constituents of all farm unions across the country to steer the movement...

This is unthinkable, even unpardonable. That the helicopter carrying the topmost military officer of India—the first ever Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) next only to the Supreme Commander of the India Army, the President of India—should crash in spite of the highest security being attached to the trip and the fool-proof technical checks being obviously carried out by the best of pilots before the trip. But it has happened still—a monumental national tragedy. CDS General Bipin Rawat, one of the bravest and the most decorated military officers of the country, had left his Delhi residence around 9 this morning and boarded a special Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft for Sulur Air Base near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu along with his wife and seven others including senior military officers and security commandos. Arriving at Sulur around 11.30 AM he boarded a Mi-17V5 helicopter, supposedly the most advanced one being manufactured and delivered to India between 2013-16 by the Republic of Russia, wit...

I remember taking my father, most probably in 1989, to his pension issuing bank branch thinking that he must have had some banking business to do. Arriving at the branch we entered the chamber of the bank manager whom my father knew well. After the customary ‘hi, Hellos’ there followed a casual chat, and then we left. I was curious as I saw none of the usual withdrawals or deposits or anything of the banking sort done there. So, I asked my father what was the purpose of the visit to which my father, with an ironic smile, said that he had to ‘show his face’ to the bank proving that he was still alive and kicking. Yes, every retiring or superannuating person from central or state governments or any other government organizations in India (I’m not aware of procedures followed in other countries) have to ‘show his/her fact’ to the issuing bank in the month of November every year mandatorily so that his/her pension is not interrupted. This is called Life Certificate to guarantee the contin...

  In the olden days we used to boast of our democracy as something ‘of the people, for the people and by the people’ where the things like freedom of expression, freedom of faith and beliefs, a secular environment with religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence and above all the prized safeguard of public opinion were all held in the highest of esteem and affection. We were very fond of forming our own opinions and of discussing those with others, not necessarily our supporters or sympathizers, but especially with those having different opinions, and in the process having healthy enlightening debates—anywhere, be it at the college/university campuses or at the favorite restaurants or in the office chambers or on the street corners or at the home addas. And we believed religiously in the strength of public opinion that used to change the destiny of democratic nations, so often.   Opinions used to be just comments or arguments that were amenable to change and further develop...